Cnu Committee Selects New Provost

NEWPORT NEWS — Mark W. Padilla was provost and vice chancellor at the University of North Carolina at Asheville.

Christopher Newport University's new provost has a research background in the arts and sciences with an interest in incorporating multimedia into instruction.

An 11-person search committee made up of faculty, staff and administrators chose Mark W. Padilla out of 110 applicants. He starts July 1.

Although the position can vary depending on the college, the provost is usually the second highest administrator behind the president at a four-year institution. The job often involves overseeing academic programs and faculty hiring.

Padilla has worked as provost and vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of North Carolina at Asheville since 2002. He also is a professor of classics, which includes Latin and Greek culture and history.

Padilla has been on leave from UNC-Asheville since January while he works with the National Climatic Data Center, where he is a research fellow and historian, said Merianne Epstein, director of public information for UNC- Asheville.

Epstein described Padilla as multi-talented, brilliant and funny.

"He's as good at looking at sciences as he is looking at classics," she said.

Padilla will replace Richard Summerville, who has served as provost at CNU twice -- from 1992 to 1995 and from 2002 until he retires in June.

Padilla has master and doctorate degrees in comparative literature from Princeton University in New Jersey and a bachelor's degree in classical studies and English from the University of California at Santa Cruz. He and his wife, Robin, have three children. *